Proverbs 5 Cross References - LEB

¹ My child, be attentive to my wisdom, and to my understanding incline your ear; ² in order to keep prudence, and knowledge will guard your lips. ³ For the lips of the strange woman will drip honey, and smoother than oil is her mouth.* ⁴ But her end is bitter as the wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold of Sheol.* ⁶ She does not observe* the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. ⁷ Now, O children, listen to me; do not depart from the sayings of my mouth. ⁸ Keep your paths far from her, and do not go near to the door of her house, ⁹ lest you give your honor to the others, and your years to the merciless, ¹⁰ lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, ¹¹ and you groan at your end, when your flesh and body are consumed, ¹² and say "How I hated discipline, and I despised reproof!" ¹³ and "I did not listen to the voice of my teachers, and I did not incline my ear to my instructors! ¹⁴ I was almost at utter* ruin* in the midst of the assembly and congregation." ¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern and flowing waters from inside your own well. ¹⁶ Shall your springs be scattered outward? In the streets, shall there be streams of water? ¹⁷ May they be yours alone, and not for strangers who are with you. ¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife* of your youth. ¹⁹ She is a deer of love and a doe of grace; may her breasts satisfy you _⌊always_⌋;* by her love may you be intoxicated continually. ²⁰ Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a foreigner? ²¹ For before the eyes of Yahweh are _⌊human ways_⌋,* and all his paths he examines. ²² His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer, and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught. ²³ He shall die _⌊for lack of_⌋* discipline, and in the greatness of his folly he shall be lost.

¹ My child, if you will receive* my sayings, and hide my commands with you,

¹ Children, listen to the instruction of a father, and be attentive in order to know insight.

²⁰ My child, be attentive to my words; to my sayings incline your ear.

¹⁷ Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; you shall apply your heart* to my teaching.

⁹ And do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"

¹⁹ Understand this, my dear brothers: every person must be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

⁷ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to him to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.'

¹¹ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.'

¹⁷ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give to him some of the hidden manna, and I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, that no one knows except the one who receives it.'

²⁹ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

⁶ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

¹³ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

²² The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

² You are the most handsome of the sons of humankind; grace is poured out on your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.

¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteousness, your salvation _⌊all day long_⌋,* though I do not know the full sum of them.

¹³ With my lips I have told of all the ordinances of your mouth.

²¹ Lips of righteousness feed many, but fools _⌊die for lack of sense_⌋.*

² The tongue of the wise will dispense knowledge, but the mouth of fools will pour out folly.

⁷ The lips of the wise will spread knowledge, but the heart* of fools, not so.

²³ The heart* of the wise will make his mouth judicious, and upon his lips, it* will add persuasiveness.

¹⁵ There is gold and many costly stones, but precious jewels are lips of knowledge.

¹¹ Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your lips; the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.

⁶ The instruction of truth* was in his mouth, and wickedness was not found on his lips. In peace and in uprightness* he walked with me, and he brought back many from sin.* ⁷ For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge, and they should seek instruction* from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts.

²¹ The _⌊buttery words_⌋* of his mouth were smooth, but there was battle in his heart. His words were smoother than oil, but they were drawn swords.

¹⁶ in order to deliver you from a strange woman, from a foreign woman who flatters* with her sayings,

²⁴ in order to preserve you from an evil woman,* from the smoothness of the tongue of _⌊an adulteress_⌋.*

⁵ In order to guard yourself from _⌊an adulteress_⌋,* from the foreigner who _⌊makes her words smooth_⌋.*

²¹ She persuades him with the greatness of her teachings; with her smooth lips she compels him.

² with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality." ³ And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit,* and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: "Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth." ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.
And _⌊I was greatly astonished when I saw her_⌋*.

⁴ After this he fell in love with a woman in the wadi* of Sorek, and her name was Delilah. ⁵ And the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and said, "Entice him and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we can overpower him, so that we may bind him up in order to subdue him; each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and with what can you be tied up to subdue you?"

¹⁵ And she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me how your strength is so great." ¹⁶ And because she nagged him day after day with her words, and pestered him, _⌊his soul grew impatient to the point of death_⌋.* ¹⁷ So _⌊he confided everything to her_⌋,* and he said to her, "A razor _⌊has never touched_⌋* my head, for I am a _⌊Nazirite of God_⌋* _⌊from birth_⌋.* If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else. ¹⁸ Delilah realized that _⌊he had confided in her_⌋,* so she sent and called the rulers of the Philistines, saying, "Come up one more time, for _⌊he has confided in me_⌋."* And the rulers of the Philistines came up, and they brought the money _⌊with them_⌋.* ¹⁹ And she put him to sleep on her lap; then she called the men* and shaved off seven locks of his head. Then she began to subdue him,* and his strength went away from him. ²⁰ And she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he woke up from his sleep and said, "I will go out just like every other time and shake myself free," but he did not know that Yahweh had left him. ²¹ And the Philistines seized him, gouged his eyes, and brought him to Gaza. They tied him up with bronze shackles, and he became a grinder _⌊in the prison_⌋.*

⁴ My soul is among lions. I lie down among those who devour— the children* of humankind whose teeth are spears and arrows and whose tongues are sharp swords.

²⁴ in order to preserve you from an evil woman,* from the smoothness of the tongue of _⌊an adulteress_⌋.* ²⁵ Do not desire her beauty in your heart; may she not capture you with her eyelashes. ²⁶ For the price of a woman, a prostitute,* is the price of a loaf of bread, but the _⌊woman belonging to a man_⌋* hunts precious life. ²⁷ Can a man carry fire in his lap, and his clothes not burn? ²⁸ If a man walks upon the hot coals, will his feet not be burned? ²⁹ Thus, he who goes to the wife of his neighbor, any who touches her shall not go unpunished. ³⁰ People do not despise a thief when he steals to fill himself* when he is hungry. ³¹ But if he is found, he will pay sevenfold, every possession of his house he shall give. ³² He who commits adultery with a woman lacks _⌊sense_⌋,* he destroys himself* who does it. ³³ A wound and dishonor he will find, and his disgrace will not be wiped out. ³⁴ For jealousy is the fury of a husband, and he will not show restraint on the day of revenge. ³⁵ He will not accept _⌊any compensation_⌋,* and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.

²² He goes after her suddenly; like an ox to the slaughter he goes, and like a stag to the instruction of a fool, ²³ until an arrow pierces his _⌊entrails_⌋,* like a bird rushing into a snare, but he does not know that _⌊it will cost him his life_⌋.*

¹⁸ But he does not know that the dead* are there, in the depths of Sheol* are her guests.

²⁷ For a deep pit is a prostitute,* and a narrow well is _⌊an adulteress_⌋.* ²⁸ She is also like a robber lying in wait, and the faithless among mankind she increases.

²⁶ I myself found that more bitter than death is the woman who is a trap, whose heart is a snare, and whose hands are bonds. The one who pleases God escapes from her, but the sinner is caught by her.

¹² For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart.

¹⁵ Take care that no one falls short of the grace of God; that no one growing up like a root of bitterness causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶ that no one be a sexually immoral or totally worldly person like Esau, who for one meal traded his own birthright.

¹⁸ for her house sinks to death, and to the dead* are her paths. ¹⁹ Of all who go to her, none shall return, nor do they reach paths of life.

²⁷ The ways of Sheol* are her house, descending to chambers of death.

¹¹ You will make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forever.

⁵⁹ I think about my ways, and turn my feet to your testimonies.

²⁶ May the path of your foot be balanced and all your ways be sure.

²¹ For before the eyes of Yahweh are _⌊human ways_⌋,* and all his paths he examines.

¹² A worthless man, an evil man, goes around with _⌊deceitful speech_⌋.* ¹³ Winking in his eye, shuffling in his foot, pointing in his fingers,

¹⁰ Then behold! A woman comes to meet him with the garment of a prostitute* and _⌊a secret heart_⌋.* ¹¹ She is loud and stubborn; her feet do not stay at her house. ¹² Now in the street, now in the square, _⌊at_⌋* every corner she lies in wait. ¹³ She took hold of * him and kissed him. Her face was impudent, and she said to him, ¹⁴ "Sacrifices of peace offerings are upon me; _⌊today_⌋* I completed my vows. ¹⁵ So* I have come out to meet you, to seek your face, and I have found you. ¹⁶ With coverings I have adorned my couch, spreads of the linen of Egypt; ¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. ¹⁸ Come, let us take our fill of love making, until the morning let us delight in love. ¹⁹ For there is no man* in his home; he has gone on a _⌊long journey_⌋.* ²⁰ The bag of money he took in his hand, for on the day of the full moon he will come home." ²¹ She persuades him with the greatness of her teachings; with her smooth lips she compels him.

¹⁹ He who is steadfast in righteousness is to life as* he who pursues evil is to death.

²⁰ This is the way of a woman committing adultery: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says "I have not done wrong."

⁹ whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved.

²¹ My child, may they* not escape from your _⌊sight_⌋;* may you keep sound wisdom and prudence.

²¹ May they not escape from your _⌊sight_⌋;* keep them in the midst of your heart.

²⁴ And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the sayings of my mouth.

³² "And now, children, listen to me; happy are those who will keep my ways. ³³ Hear teaching and be wise; do not neglect it. ³⁴ Happy is the person who listens to me, in order to keep watch at my doors day by day, in order to guard the frames of my entrances. ³⁵ For he who finds me is he who finds* life, and he obtains favor from Yahweh. ³⁶ But he who misses me injures himself.* All those who hate me love death."

¹⁷ Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; you shall apply your heart* to my teaching. ¹⁸ For it is pleasant if you guard them _⌊within you_⌋;* together they will be ready upon your lips. ¹⁹ In order for your trust to be in Yahweh, I have made them known to you _⌊today_⌋*—even* you. ²⁰ Have I not written for you thirty sayings with admonitions and knowledge? ²¹ In order to show you what is right—sayings of truth— in order to return a true saying to him who sent you.

²⁵ Watch out that you do not refuse the one who is speaking! For if those did not escape when they* refused the one who warned them on earth, much less will we escape,* if we* reject the one who warns from heaven,

¹⁵ Avoid it; do not transgress it; turn away from it and pass by.

²⁷ Can a man carry fire in his lap, and his clothes not burn? ²⁸ If a man walks upon the hot coals, will his feet not be burned?

²⁵ May your heart not turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her path.

¹³ And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.*

¹¹ And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even expose them.

²³ And Judah said, "Let her take them for herself, lest we be _⌊laughed at_⌋.* Behold, I sent this kid, but you could not find her." ²⁴ And _⌊about three months later_⌋* it was told to Judah, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the whore, and now, behold, she has conceived by prostitution." And Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned." ²⁵ She was brought out, but she sent to her father-in-law saying, "By the man to whom these belong I have conceived." And she said, "Now discern* to whom these belong: the seal and cord and the staff." ²⁶ Then Judah recognized them and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he did not know* her again.

²⁶ Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in this way? And among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Yet the foreign women made even him sin.

¹³ On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice, and on the hills they make offerings, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their* shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and all your daughters-in-law* commit adultery. ¹⁴ _⌊I will not punish your daughters_⌋* when they play the whore, or your daughters-in-law* when they commit adultery; because they go aside with whores, and they sacrifice with temple prostitutes, a people that does not understand comes to ruin.

³⁵ He will not accept _⌊any compensation_⌋,* and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.

³ Do not give your strength to the women, and your ways to destroy kings.

⁹ Foreigners devour* his strength, and he does not know it; _⌊mold_⌋* is also sprinkled upon him, and he does not know it.

³⁰ But when this son of yours returned—who has consumed your assets with prostitutes—you killed the fattened calf for him!'

²⁷ When he has made her drink the waters, it will come about, if she has defiled herself and acted unfaithfully to her husband and the waters of bitterness that bring a curse go into her and her stomach swells and her hip falls away,* the woman will be as a curse in the midst of her people.

²⁹ If only they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern _⌊for themselves their end_⌋.*

²³ until an arrow pierces his _⌊entrails_⌋,* like a bird rushing into a snare, but he does not know that _⌊it will cost him his life_⌋.*

³¹ The prophets prophesy _⌊falsely_⌋,* and the priests rule _⌊by their own authority_⌋,* and my people love it* so much. But what will you do _⌊when the end comes_⌋?*

²¹ Therefore what sort of fruit did you have then, about which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus, when* you are assembled, and my spirit, together with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ I have decided* to hand over such a person to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, in order that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

⁴ Marriage must be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed be undefiled, because God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.

⁸ But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

¹⁵ Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral people and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and who practices falsehood.

⁹ But they said, "Step aside!" Then they said, "_⌊This fellow_⌋* came to dwell as a foreigner and he acts as a judge! Now we shall do worse to you than them!" And they pressed very hard against the man, against Lot, and they drew near to break the door.

¹³ And he went out on the second day, and there were two Hebrew men fighting, and he said to the guilty one, "Why do you strike your neighbor?" ¹⁴ And he said, "Who _⌊appointed you as a commander_⌋* and a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?" And Moses was afraid, and he said, "Surely the matter has become known."

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus says God: 'Why are you transgressing the commandments of Yahweh so that you will not succeed? For you have forsaken Yahweh, so he will forsake you.'" ²¹ Then they conspired against him and stoned him with stones at the command of the king in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. ²² So King Joash did not remember the loyal love that Jehoiada had shown to him, and he killed his son. And as he was dying he said, "May Yahweh see and avenge!"

¹⁶ And it happened that while he was speaking to him, he said to him, "Have we appointed you as a counselor to the king? Stop—_⌊why should you be killed_⌋?"* So the prophet stopped and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice."

¹⁰ And Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not listen. ¹¹ So Yahweh brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria upon them, and they took Manasseh captive with hooks, and they bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

¹⁶ But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy.

¹⁷ while you yourself hate discipline, and cast my words behind you?

²² then I was brutish and ignorant. With you I was like the beasts.

⁷ Fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; wisdom and instruction, fools despise.

²² "_⌊How long_⌋,* O simple ones, will you love simplicity? And how long will scoffers delight in their scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?

²⁵ You have ignored all my counsel, and my reproof you are not willing to accept.

²⁹ Since they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Yahweh, ³⁰ they were not willing to accept my counsel, they despised all my reproof.

²³ For like a lamp is a commandment, and instruction is light, and the way of life* is the reproof of discipline,

¹ He who loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates rebuke is stupid.

¹⁸ Poverty and disgrace belong to him who ignores instruction, but he who guards reproof will be honored.

⁵ A fool will despise the instruction of his father, but he who guards reproof is prudent.

⁴ And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, _⌊sending over and over again_⌋,* _⌊saying_⌋,* "Please, you must not do this detestable thing that I hate."

⁴ "Do not be like your ancestors,* to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Return from your evil ways and your evil deeds!" ' But they did not hear* and they did not pay attention* to me," _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁵ "Your ancestors,* where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ However, did not my words and my regulations which I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors?* And they repented and said, 'Yahweh of hosts planned to do with us according to our ways, and according to our deeds so he has dealt with us.'" '"

¹¹ But they refused to listen, and turned* a stubborn shoulder and _⌊stopped their ears from listening_⌋.* ¹² _⌊They made their hearts adamant_⌋* in order not to hear the law* and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through* the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts. ¹³ 'Thus, just as I* called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,' says Yahweh of hosts. ¹⁴ 'And I scattered them with a wind among all the nations that they had not known; the land was made desolate behind them— no one crossing through it or returning—and they made the desirable land* a desolation.'"

¹⁹ And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.

¹⁸ I will set out and* go to my father and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and _⌊in your sight_⌋!*

⁸ Therefore the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

¹² Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and rule over you in the Lord and admonish you, ¹³ and to esteem them beyond all measure in love, because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

⁷ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you; _⌊considering the outcome of their way of life_⌋*, imitate their faith.

¹ When Israel dwelled in Shittim, the people began to prostitute* themselves with the daughters of Moab. ² And they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and worshiped their gods. ³ So Israel was joined together to Baal Peor, and _⌊Yahweh became angry_⌋* with Israel. ⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "Take all _⌊the leaders_⌋* of the people and kill them before the sun, so the fierce anger of Yahweh will turn from Israel." ⁵ So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each of you kill his men who are joined together with Baal Peor." ⁶ And behold, a man from the _⌊Israelites_⌋* came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of all of the community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of assembly.

²⁰ Walk with the wise and be wise, but as for the companion of fools, he will suffer harm.

¹¹ whoredom_⌋.* Wine and new wine _⌊take away the understanding_⌋.* ¹² My people, consult _⌊their wooden idols_⌋,* and their divining rod gives them oracles; because a spirit of whoredom led them astray, and they played the whore from under their God.*

⁶ Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we should not be desirers of evil things, just as those also desired them, ⁷ and not become idolaters, as some of them did, just as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play,"* ⁸ nor commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed sexual immorality, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day,

¹⁰ and especially those who go after the flesh in defiling lust* and who despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, they do not tremble in awe as they* blaspheme majestic beings, ¹¹ whereas angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring against them a demeaning judgment.* ¹² But these persons, like irrational animals born only with natural instincts for capture and killing, blaspheming _⌊about things_⌋* they do not understand, in their destruction will also be destroyed, ¹³ being harmed as the wages of unrighteousness. Considering reveling in the daytime a pleasure, they are stains and blemishes, carousing in their deceitful pleasures when they* feast together with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of desire for an adulteress and unceasing from sin, enticing unstable persons, and* having hearts trained for greediness. Accursed children! ¹⁵ By* leaving the straight path, they have gone astray, because they* followed the way of Balaam the son of Bosor,* who loved the wages of unrighteousness, ¹⁶ but received a rebuke for his own lawlessness: a speechless donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained _⌊the prophet's madness_⌋*. ¹⁷ These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ _⌊For by speaking high-sounding but empty words_⌋*, they entice with desires of the flesh and with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error,

⁷ as Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them indulged in sexual immorality and _⌊pursued unnatural desire_⌋* in the same way as these, are exhibited as an example by* undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. ⁸ Despite that, in the same way also these men, because of their* dreams, defile the flesh and reject authority and blaspheme majestic beings. ⁹ But Michael the archangel, when he argued with the devil, disputing concerning the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" ¹⁰ But these persons blaspheme all that they do not understand, and all that they understand by instinct like the irrational animals, by these things they are being destroyed. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have traveled in the way of Cain, and have given themselves up to the error of Balaam for gain, and have perished* in the rebellion of Korah. ¹² These are the ones feasting together without reverence, hidden reefs at your love feasts, caring for themselves, waterless clouds carried away by winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted, ¹³ wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shameful deeds, wandering stars, for whom the deep gloom of darkness has been reserved for eternity.

¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife* of your youth. ¹⁹ She is a deer of love and a doe of grace; may her breasts satisfy you _⌊always_⌋;* by her love may you be intoxicated continually.

² But because of sexual immorality, let each man have* his own wife and let each woman have her own husband. ³ The husband must fulfill his obligation to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. And likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but his wife does. ⁵ Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by agreement, for a time, in order that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and then you should be _⌊together_⌋* again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self control.

⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "You are our sister; may you become countless thousands; and may your offspring take possession of the gate of his enemies."

²⁸ So Israel dwells alone and carefree, the spring of Jacob in a land of grain and wine; his heavens even drip dew.

⁹ He had thirty sons. He gave his thirty daughters away in marriage outside his clan and brought in from outside thirty young women for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years.

²⁶ Bless God in the assemblies, Yahweh from the fountain of Israel.

³ Look, children* are the heritage* of Yahweh; the fruit of the womb is a reward.

³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine _⌊within_⌋* your house. Your children* will be like olive shoots about your table.

²¹ And when he led them through the deserts, they were not thirsty; he made water flow from the rock for them, and he split the rock, and the water gushed out.

⁹ Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which he gives you under the sun, because this is your lot in life and in the toil with which you toil under the sun.

¹² A garden locked is my sister bride, a spring enclosed,* a fountain sealed.

¹⁵ A garden fountain, a well of living water, flowing (streams) from Lebanon.

¹⁴ But you ask, "_⌊For what reason_⌋?"* Because Yahweh stands as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been unfaithful, even though she is your marriage partner and _⌊your wife by covenant_⌋.* ¹⁵ _⌊Did not one God make them?_⌋* But a remnant of the spirit is his.* And what does the one God desire? An offspring of God.* _⌊You must be attentive to_⌋* your spirit, and you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

⁴ And a visitor came to the rich man, but he _⌊was reluctant_⌋* to take from his flocks or from his herds to prepare a meal for the traveler when he came to him. So he took the ewe lamb of the poor man and prepared it for the man who had come to him."

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern and flowing waters from inside your own well.

⁹ My beloved is like a gazelle or _⌊a young stag_⌋.* Look! _⌊He is_⌋* standing behind our wall, gazing _⌊through_⌋* the window, looking _⌊through_⌋* the lattice.

¹⁷ Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved! _⌊Be like_⌋* a gazelle* or _⌊young stag_⌋* on the cleft mountains.*

⁵ Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle that feed among the lilies.

³ Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.

¹⁴ Flee, my beloved! _⌊Be like a gazelle_⌋* or _⌊a young stag_⌋* upon _⌊the perfumed mountains_⌋!*

¹ King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite;

¹⁶ in order to deliver you from a strange woman, from a foreign woman who flatters* with her sayings, ¹⁷ she who forsakes the partner of her youth and has forgotten the covenant of her God,

¹⁴ A deep pit is the mouth of an _⌊adulteress_⌋,* he with whom Yahweh is angry will fall there.

³³ Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart* will speak perverse things.

⁹ For the eyes of Yahweh roam throughout all the earth to strengthen those whose heart is fully devoted to him. You have been foolish in this, for from now on you will have wars."

¹⁶ For then* you would count my steps, but you would not keep watch over my sin.

⁴ Does he not see my ways and count all my steps?

²¹ "Indeed, his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he sees all his steps.

⁴ Yahweh is in his holy temple; Yahweh is in the heavens on his throne. His eyelids see; they test the children of humankind.

³ You have tried my heart; you have examined me by night; you have tested me; you found nothing. I have decided that my mouth will not transgress.

¹⁶⁸ I heed your precepts and testimonies, because all my ways are before you.

¹ For the music director. Of David. A psalm.*
O Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me. ² You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought from afar. ³ You search out* my wandering and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. ⁴ For there is not a word yet on my tongue, but behold, O Yahweh, you know it completely. ⁵ You barricade me behind and in front, and set your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is set high; I cannot prevail against it. ⁷ Where I can go from your Spirit, or where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, there you are, and if I make my bed in Sheol, look! There you are. ⁹ If I lift up the wings of the dawn, and I alight on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand would lead me, and your right hand would hold me fast. ¹¹ And if I should say, "Surely darkness will cover me, and the light around me will be as night," ¹² even the darkness is not too dark for you,* and the night shines as the day— the darkness and the light are alike for you.

³ In every place, the eyes of Yahweh keep watch over the evil and the good.

¹⁷ For my eyes are on all their ways, they are not hidden _⌊from before me_⌋,* and their iniquity is not concealed from before my eyes.

¹⁰ I, Yahweh, examine the _⌊mind_⌋,* I test the _⌊heart_⌋,* and give to each one according to his way, according to the fruit of his deeds.

²⁴ Or can a person hide himself in secret places and I cannot see him?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. "Do I not fill up the heaven and the earth?" _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹⁹ great in counsel and great in deed, whose eyes are opened to all the ways of the children of humankind, to give to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds,

² _⌊But they did not consider_⌋* that I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.

¹³ And no creature is hidden in the sight of him, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom _⌊we must give our account_⌋*.

¹⁸ "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
"This is what the Son of God says, the one who has his eyes like a fiery flame and his feet like fine bronze:

²³ And I will kill her children with deadly disease, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

²³ But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh, and know that your sin will find you.

¹⁵ He makes a pit and digs it out, then falls in the trap he has made. ¹⁶ His trouble comes back on his head, and his violence comes down on his skull.

¹⁵ The nations have fallen in the pit that they made; their foot is caught in the net that they hid.

¹⁸ They lie in wait for their own blood. They ambush their own lives.

³¹ They shall eat from the fruit of their way, and they shall be sated from their own schemes, ³² for the waywardness of the simple ones will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³ The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

⁵ The righteousness of the blameless will keep his ways straight, but the wicked will fall by his wickedness.

¹⁹ Your wickedness will chastise you, and your apostasies will reprove you. Therefore know and see that it is evil and bitter, your forsaking of Yahweh, your God, and fear of me is not in you," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

⁹ I wrote to you in the letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. ¹⁰ By no means did I mean the sexually immoral people of this world or the greedy people and swindlers or idolaters, since then you would have to depart out of the world.

¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are sexual immorality, impurity, licentiousness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, things which I am telling you in advance, just as I said before, that the ones who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked, for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap, ⁸ because the one who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

⁵ For this you know _⌊for certain_⌋*, that every sexually immoral person, or unclean person, or greedy person (who is an idolater), does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

²¹ Is not their tent cord pulled up within them? They die, but* not in* wisdom.'

¹² But* if they do not listen, they perish by the sword, and they pass away without knowledge.

¹² So I let them* go in the stubbornness of their heart; they walked in their counsels.

¹⁴ From his ways, the perverse of heart will be satisfied, and _⌊from his own_⌋,* so shall a good man.

³² By his evildoing, the wicked will be overthrown, and the righteous will find refuge in his death.

¹⁵ By* leaving the straight path, they have gone astray, because they* followed the way of Balaam the son of Bosor,* who loved the wages of unrighteousness, ¹⁶ but received a rebuke for his own lawlessness: a speechless donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained _⌊the prophet's madness_⌋*. ¹⁷ These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ _⌊For by speaking high-sounding but empty words_⌋*, they entice with desires of the flesh and with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error, ¹⁹ promising them freedom although they* themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also* enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they* have escaped from the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord* and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in these things and succumb to them, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. ²² The statement of the true proverb has happened to them, "A dog returns to its own vomit,"* and "A sow, after* washing herself, returns* to wallowing in the mud."*